The World Press Freedom Index 2016.

Greg Krasovsky: With the recent debate around "fake news" in the United States, let's take another look at the freedom of the press worldwide.

I'm saddened and embarrassed that my home countries, Russia, Ukraine and The United States didn't do better than their current rankings in The World Press Freedom Index, especially the U.S.

But hey, at least everyone is ahead of China, right??? 

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The World Press Freedom Index.

WHAT IS IT?

Published by Reporters Without Borders annually since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries using the following criteria – pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative environment, transparency, infrastructure, and abuses.

The WPFI is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states. 
Because it is well known, its influence over governments is growing. 
Many heads of state and government fear its annual publication. 

The Index is a point of reference that is quoted by media throughout the world and is used by diplomats and international entities such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?

The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists. 
It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country. 
It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. 
Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country.

The 2016 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published on 20 April, 2016, shows that there has been a deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.

The survival of independent news coverage is becoming increasingly precarious in both the state and privately-owned media because of the threat from ideologies, especially religious ideologies, that are hostile to media freedom, and from large-scale propaganda machines. Throughout the world, “oligarchs” are buying up media outlets and are exercising pressure that compounds the pressure already coming from governments.

All of the Index’s indicators show a decline from 2013 to 2016. This is especially the case for infrastructure. Some governments do not hesitate to suspend access to the Internet or even to destroy the premises, broadcast equipment or printing presses of media outlets they dislike. The infrastructure indicator fell 16% from 2013 to 2016.
   
https://rsf.org/en/deep-and-disturbing-decline-media-freedom

1 Finland
2 Netherlands
3 Norway
4 Denmark
5 New Zealand
6 Costa Rica
7 Switzerland
8 Sweden
9 Ireland
10 Jamaica

18 Canada
41 United States
149 Mexico

7 Poland
12 Slovakia
14 Estonia
24 Latvia
35 Lithuania
67 Hungary
49 Romania
60 Mongolia
76 Moldova 
107 Ukraine
148 Russia
151 Turkey
157 Belarus
160 Kazakhstan
176 China
  
https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table

Another turn of the screw in the post-Soviet region.

The fact that Russia (148th, up 4) improved its ranking slightly should not raise hopes because its score fell as a result of the persecution of critics, which has reached levels not seen for three decades. And Russia’s behaviour has legitimized the growing repression throughout the region because Moscow acts as a regional “model”.

After plummeting in the 2015 Index because of the Maidan crackdown and the fighting in the east, Ukraine (107th) has jumped 22 places in the latest Index thanks to a significant decline in violence and to some long-awaited reforms. But major challenges remain, starting with the oligarchs’ grip on the media and the “information war” with Russia.

https://rsf.org/en/another-turn-screw-post-soviet-region

Who owns Ukraine's media?

Who owns Ukraine's media?

There is a war being waged in Ukraine and it is playing out on television sets and in the minds of viewers.

"There is a war being waged in Ukraine, but this one is not being fought from trenches in the east. It is being played out on television sets and in the minds of viewers on an informational frontline where oligarchs and politicians fight for influence.

On this battlefield, the media serves as a weapon with which owners can exert political leverage, attack opponents or foment specific public sentiments.

Oligarchs, through their control of and influence on the media, play a critical role in shaping the discourse around and public consciousness of unfolding events. And this, says former investigative journalist and current member of parliament Sergey Leshchenko, poses a danger to democracy.

"TV stations are used for achieving political goals," he says.

Some of Ukraine's wealthiest oligarchs, including the country's president, Petro Poroshenko, Igor Kolomoisky, Dmytro Firtash, Victor Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, own media groups. While only Poroshenko is actually in government, Kolomoisky, Firtash, Pinchuk and Akhmetov are all involved in supporting and promoting political parties or policies.

Ukraine ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
...
Media is a threat to Ukraine's fledgling democracy. Because oligarchic media "deprived [the public] of the possibility to receive balanced and true information about what's going on," says Telekritika's Roman Shutov, "it changes their behaviour, the political behaviour and the electoral behaviour." The use of the media in the political and economic war in which the various factions of the Ukrainian establishment are engaged is disruptive for democracy.

"As oligarchs manipulate and divide the public," Shutov argues, they create "a threat to internal stability" and pose "a challenge to democracy".

Democracy and the freedom of the press have been appropriated by the elite to create a factionalised plutocracy in the guise of a democratic state. The media, Yuri Makarov argues, looks "like a reflection in a broken mirror"."

Greg Krasovsky: What makes matters worse is that most of these Oligarch-controlled media outlet are actively fomenting Russo-phobia with tacit approval by the U.S. Government.

Please read rest of the article at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/04/owns-ukraine-media-160405130121777.html